Abstract
Fidget spinners have been around in some form since 1993, and they have only recently gained traction because of recent YouTube videos featuring trick with the spinners. Since the rise of this simple, yet engaging gadget, an elementary and middle school teacher named Jenn Jarmula has had to hang up a sign outside her classroom that forbade fidget spinners from being inside the classroom. Although people like Ms. Jarmula believe these contraptions are nuisances, many believe that they have mental benefits to them. There are studies that have found that fidgeting can benefit young people with conditions such as ADHD, or autism. Julie Schweitzer, the director of attention, impulsivity and regulation laboratory at UC Davis, has found that kids with ADHD did better on tests while moving around in their seats or moving their legs compared to those simply sitting still. In opposition to this research, many people argue that the fidget spinner does not require much movement, as the spinner moves for them. Rather than help kids pay attention, it may simply distract them from the subject at hand.
Key Issues
Parents with kids that have ADHD or autism are always looking for some magical remedy for their conditions, and so they are quick to believe any claims that manufacturers or researchers make in regards to improving cognitive functions. In this case, parents believe that these fidget spinners, indeed, help with their kid’s ability to function normally. There is substantial scientific evidence that states that fidgeting can and does help young people to focus, because movement likely stimulates underactive regions of the brain, like the dorsolateral cortex, which plays a role in attention, planning and impulse control (2017). Julie Schweitzer’s research on fidgeting and how it affects kids with ADHD or autism supports this claim. Her research resulted in a positive correlation between fidgeting and how well they did on an attention test in the experiment.
Information/Evidence
The main objective of this article is to argue the usefulness and practicality of this new craze in regards to the improvement of cognitive functions and scholarly performance. This article starts off with a recent event where an elementary and middle school teacher named Jann Jarmula has been confiscating fidget spinners from her students and has even put up a sign in front of her class room that reads, “This is a fidget spinner free zone”. Ms. Jarmula is one of the many teachers that have decided to ban fidget spinners from the classroom, despite the assertions made by manufacturers that the spinners benefit students, especially those with ADHD, anxiety or autism, in a therapeutic way. Reports from a mother named Cat Bowen, a lifestyle writer on a website called romper.com for millennial mothers, say that her son of 9-years-old, who is diagnosed with autism, has been more focused once he started using a fidget spinner. She says that homework which use to take him about an hour to do will take him about forty minutes now. Although this all sounds amazing, as If it were a kind of magical cure for children with mental defects, many believe that these claims that the fidget spinner are beneficial are inaccurate. The fidget spinner has been around in some shape or form since 1993, and only recently have they gained traction due to some viral videos on YouTube. Although it may be true that fidgeting can help young people to perform better cognitively, experts say that messing with a fidget spinner does not produce the same results as actual fidgeting because the spinners do not require much physical interaction and move for them.
Assumptions
The author most likely assumes that the fidget spinners hold little to no therapeutic benefits to them, despite the claims that manufacturers and distributors make. I also believe that these fidget spinners don’t provide any substantial benefits when it comes to mental functions, as it is true that there is no real involvement when it comes to fidget spinners. As stated in the article, the spinner moves for you. Although there have been reports where the fidget spinners helped aid in providing a boost in performance in some individuals, they do not provide enough evidence and testimony to support the claims that advertisements for the spinners make.
Background Info.
The fidget spinner was designed by an inventor from Florida named Catherine Hettinger. Hettinger created this toy for her desire to promote world peace. The idea of the spinner came to her when she was visiting her sister in Israel. During her time in Israel, she wondered what would happen if the young people were to play with something calming rather than throw rocks at the police officers. The spinner at the time never gained very much attention, and was forgotten until recently. The fidget spinner was not created by people with the intention of improving everyday lives of kids with mental dysfunctions. The original purpose of the spinner was to spread a message about world peace. Research on the effects of fidgeting do support the idea that fidgeting does affect the brain in a positive way when it comes to cognitive skills, but the fidget spinner isn’t something that requires much physical involvement.
Point of view
In this article, it is clear that the author is skeptical of the claims made by the manufacturers of the fidget spinners. Parents of kids with mental disabilities are desperate and are willing to believe anything if it might have a chance of improving their kid’s overall well-being. There have even been reports from parents of children with conditions like autism, and although there are claims that the fidget spinners can have therapeutic effects with students with mental disabilities, there has been no real research done on the effectiveness of the spinners on such individuals. The author of the article, Sean Gregory (2017), states that the alleged mental benefits of the toys have helped fuel their sales, but even a cursory look at the nonexistent science, and the history, of the spinners makes it clear that these claims are specious at best. It is true that researchers believe that movement helps keep focus during cognitive tasks, and the research done by Julie Schweitzer on fidgeting supports the idea that fidgeting does improve cognitive functionality, but with the spinner those benefits do not manifest because of the fact that there is little to no physical involvement required for the spinner.